I study the impact of idiosyncratic earnings uncertainty on aggregate saving and employment in an economy populated by families consisting of two members. Families incur a fixed cost of participation when both members are employed. I argue that, because of market incompleteness and private information, the presence of this fixed cost can generate multiplicity of equilibrium. In particular there might be one equilibrium with high (female) employment and low savings and another one with low employment and high savings. The model suggests that aggregate saving and employment rates should be negatively correlated across countries. Finally, I present empirical evidence that supports both the partial and the general equilibrium predictions of the model.
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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number
2113.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Karen E. Dynan & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, 2004.
"Do the Rich Save More?,"
Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 397-444, April.
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Karen E. Dynan & Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, 2000.
"Do the Rich Save More?,"
NBER Working Papers
7906, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)